By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors
In Montrose, a commercial property inspection lets a buyer or lender judge a highway-strip building stock one building at a time. A University of Minnesota summary of the city's 2009 Highway 12 redevelopment plan counts about 35 structures with a variety of architectural styles, building heights and exterior materials, so no two roofs or walls can be assumed alike.
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Commercial buildings in and around Montrose
From Railroad Street to the Highway 12 strip
Montrose was incorporated as a village in 1881, and the city's own history page says most businesses stood on Railroad Street in the early days. In the 1930s the business district moved outward to U.S. Highway 12 after fires destroyed most of the buildings on Railroad Street. The history also records that Highway 12 was officially established and that State Highway 25 crossed Montrose.
In July 2008 the city council and Economic Development Authority created a 15-member Highway 12 Redevelopment Committee. A University of Minnesota summary of the 2009 design exhibit to the city's Highway 12 redevelopment plan says the corridor consists of approximately 35 structures with a variety of architectural styles, building heights, setbacks and exterior building materials. With that much variety, each building has its own roof, wall and mechanical history.
A MnDOT project completed in 2025 repaved Highway 12 in Montrose from east of Clementa Avenue to east of Zephyr Avenue, rebuilt curbs, gutters and entrances, and added a center turn lane at Zephyr and Arizona avenues. When curb lines and entrances change, so do the paths that water takes between the street, parking lots and building edges.
Montrose Business Park at Highway 12 and Clementa Avenue
A flyer on the city's economic development pages describes Montrose Business Park as a 29.31-acre site at U.S. Highway 12 and Clementa Ave SW, with subdivided sites available and rail access possible. The flyer cites 2010 population figures, so its availability details may be dated.
Shop and warehouse buildings on a site like this typically sit on a slab with a large low-slope roof, overhead doors and their own electrical service. They are judged differently from highway storefronts, and a buyer or lender usually wants to know how the roof and electrical service have aged.
A turn-of-the-century clinic at the edge of downtown
The Dr. E.P. Hawkins Clinic, Hospital and House appears in the National Register of Historic Places database kept by the National Park Service. It comprises three buildings on the eastern fringe of Montrose's central business district. Its 1978 inventory form says Dr. Hawkins built the hospital in 1903 and opened it formally in 1904, with ten beds, and that the Montrose Training School for Nurses was incorporated in 1914.
The form notes that the hospital building retained its original cut-cedar shingle roof and that all three buildings were then used as residences. Medical buildings that change use are a familiar case in commercial property: plumbing, wiring and floor plans laid out for one purpose have to serve another.
Commercial buildings we inspect
Quick answers
Why do highway storefronts in Montrose need to be judged one by one?
The University of Minnesota's summary of the 2009 Highway 12 plan lists about 35 structures with differing styles, heights and exterior materials. A strip whose business district moved to the highway in the 1930s can have roofs, walls and mechanical systems of many ages, so a neighbor's condition says little about the next building's.
Can a road project like the 2025 Highway 12 work affect a commercial building?
MnDOT rebuilt curbs, gutters and entrances in Montrose and added a center turn lane at Zephyr and Arizona avenues. Changes at the curb and entrance can change where stormwater goes and how customers and deliveries reach a building. What matters to a buyer is how the building itself stands after such work.
What can thermal imaging add for a shop or warehouse building in a business park?
A large low-slope roof can hold water in its insulation long before a stain appears inside, and a heavy electrical service can carry a loose connection that runs warm under load. An infrared camera maps surface temperature, which is how both conditions can be located. It marks where to look closer; it does not by itself explain the cause.
Sources
- City of Montrose: Montrose History
- University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy: City of Montrose Highway 12 Redevelopment Plan, Exhibit I (2009), repository record
- Minnesota Department of Transportation: Howard Lake, Waverly and Montrose see smoother roads, safer walkways (November 12, 2025)
- City of Montrose: Available Commercial and Industrial Sites
- City of Montrose: Montrose Business Park flyer
- National Park Service: Dr. E.P. Hawkins Clinic, Hospital and House, Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form
- National Park Service NPGallery: Dr. E.P. Hawkins Clinic, Hospital and House record
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Commercial property inspection in Minnesota and Iowa · Home inspection in Montrose
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